NATO troops practise amphibious landing on Germany’s Baltic coast

NATO troops practised an amphibious landing on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on Wednesday as the trans-Atlantic alliance’s large-scale Steadfast Dart exercise continued.

Soldiers, weapons and equipment were brought ashore after a sea crossing via the Putlos military training area in Schleswig-Holstein.

“The alliance is united, capable of action and ready to act,” said Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, observing the manouevres. “It is operational and at the same time demonstrates what the European partners within NATO are capable of.”

“If something happens on the eastern flank, NATO troops must be deployed quickly, and of course through Germany,” he added.

Some 15 ships and more than 2,600 soldiers were involved in the amphibious landing from the Allied Reaction Force, which is known as NATO’s spearhead.

The rapid reaction force, numbering around 40,000 soldiers, is kept on high alert.

Divers took the lead in Wednesday’s exercises, climbing out of the water onto the snow-covered beach to secure the coastal section. Shortly afterwards, special forces arrived on speedboats while fighter jets roared overhead, combating enemy targets in accordance with the scenario.

Combat helicopters circled above the beach to provide air support to the first forces on the ground. They were followed by Turkish ZAHA-type armoured amphibious assault vehicles. The amphibious tanks rolled onto the beach with a roar.

Officers described the interaction between land, naval and air forces as highly complex.

Also observing the landings was NATO General Ingo Gerhartz, who leads the Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum in the Netherlands. The command is responsible for the defence of Central Europe, from the Atlantic to the alliance’s eastern border.

The landings show “that in a potential crisis, we can very quickly show a potential adversary where the red lines are,” Gerhartz said.

The Brunssum operational headquarters is involved in conducting the Steadfast Dart exercise, which has involved 17 ships from 13 countries, more than 1,500 vehicles and around 10,000 soldiers.

The manoeuvre is the largest this year for NATO, with operations centred in Germany, which would likely act as a hub in the event of a Russian attack on the alliance’s eastern flank.

The biggest troop contributions have come from southern European countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece, as well as Turkey.

In addition, Ukrainian troops are set to demonstrate during Steadfast Dart how to attack with and defend against drones, as NATO seeks to learn from the experience of the war in Ukraine.

“The war in Ukraine is not a blueprint, but it is a teacher,” said Carsten Breuer, the inspector general of the German military. “That means we are drawing conclusions from the war in Ukraine.”

“We have to face up to a real threat,” said Breuer. “Part of this preparation involves exercises such as the ones we are seeing here today, which also serve as a deterrent.”